Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

My way of apologizing for taking so long to update: Update sooner

Chapter Fourteen

Tenten stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom, wearing her ivory wedding dress, loving the way the material pooled at her feet. There were diamonds on the bodice and the short sleeves, with silver glitter climbing from the bottom of the skirt and scattered on the train. Her hair was in two buns, as Gaara had insisted, but held in place with glittering diamond pins.

"I-It's beautiful, Tenten." Hinata gushed. She was standing behind Tenten, fixing the train.

"Well of course, I designed it." Ino said proudly, sitting on a chair next to them.

"Thanks, Ino. It really is beautiful." Tenten said sincerely.

"Like I would let one of those idiots that work for me to make my best friend's wedding dress." Ino snorted.

"I can't believe you're actually getting married!" Sakura said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "And to Gaara! It's so sweet, like marrying your first love."

Tenten's heart skipped a beat. "Yeah.."

"That diamond is huge..." Ino murmured, examining Tenten's engagement ring. "At least five carat...Gaara doesn't even have a job yet, how could he afford this?"

Tenten smiled. "His family's kind of...well-off."

"You're so lucky Tenten. He's handsome, smart and rich. I should've taken him..."

"Hey, stop thinking about my fiance like that!" Tenten laughed.

Ino giggled and checked her watch. "Hey Hinata, Sakura, I think we should go downstairs. Bridesmaids' duties and all that."

The other two nodded in agreement. "See you, Tenten."

"Yeah, you'll look every part the blushing bride." Ino laughed.

"Good luck, Tennie! Don't get nervous!" Sakura hurried out of the room, leaving Tenten alone inside.

Tenten closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

'It's like marrying your first love!' Sakura's words resounded inside Tenten's head.

'My...first...love?

Tenten pulled out the bottom drawer of her desk and took her diary out of it. She flipped through the pages and took out...

A rose. A reddish-brown, withered, limp rose. She gently lifted the rose from the pages and held it up. There was still the faintest fragrance...

Flashback

"Look at the sky Neji, it's gold!" Tenten gasped in fascination, looking up at the sky.

The smile that he only wore around Tenten came to his lips. "You always say that, Tenten."

"No I don't!"

He laughed. Tenten snuggled closer into him as a breeze blew past.

"You're so warm Neji." She said, sighing contentedly.

"I think you're the only person who would ever use that word to describe me."

"Huh? How come?"

His smile only grew wider at her ignorance. "Never mind."

She looked confused, but decided to shrug it off. Then, she gave a sudden gasp.

"What? What is it?" Neji said, alert.

"Those roses are so beautiful..." She said happily, looking at two lonely red roses in the shrub at the edge of the lawn.

Neji followed her gaze and laughed. "Roses, huh?"

He got up, dragging Tenten up with him by her hand, and led her over to the roses.

He picked one out. "Take the other one, Tenten."

She obediently picked the other flower out.

Neji gave her the one he had in his hand. "Now you give me yours."

"Okay..." She said in a bemused tone, handing him hers.

She saw a smile come to his face. She always loved Neji's smile. "Roses represent love." He murmured.

She frowned in thought. "So, if we both have one, it means we love each other?"

"That's the idea."

An enthusiastic smile came to her face. "Cool! I'm gonna keep it for ever and ever!"

She saw his face soften. "Lets do that."

End flashback

'Eight years, four months and sixteen days...'

Tenten placed the rose back into the diary and put it back in her drawer. She turned to the window and looked out at the sky.

'It's gold...' She thought absentmindedly.

She whipped her head around as she heard the door being opened.

"It's me." Neji said, as he closed the door.

'What is he doing?'

"Neji, I'm about to be married, do not ruin this day for me." She frowned.

"Tenten, I'm telling you that you do not want to marry him." Neji told her, placing his hands on her shoulders. She stepped back, shaking him off.

"What do you know about what I want." Her voice was low and dangerous. "We're not even friends anymore, Neji. Not for eight years."

She started worrying a little though, when she saw a triumphant gleam come to his eyes.

"Just the fact, that you remember how long it's been proves that you've been regretting it. Every single day."

"Oh for God's sake." She turned away from him. "I-"

"Eight years, four months and sixteen days, right, Tenten?"

Tenten didn't let her composure slip for even a second. But inwardly, she was shocked. "It doesn't matter anymore, Neji."

He took a stepped slowly towards her, until he was right in front of her, and whispered into her ear. "Doesn't it?"

Tenten was paralyzed for a second. Then-

"No, it doesn't Neji. I don't love you. I never will. If you really love me, you'll realize that and you won't," She closed her eyes and took deep breath. "You won't ruin my wedding day. The day I get married to the man I truly love."

His breath was hot on her neck. "It's because I love you, that I know you love me more than him. It's because I love you that I had to leave, because I could not stand to see you together with him, when it should have been me. It's because I love you that I've never been with any other woman in my life. It's because I love you," A single tear rolled down his cheek. "That I will always be waiting for you, whatever you do."

Neji stepped back and exited the room.

Tenten stood there, a finger on the hot tear on her shoulder.

'God Neji...when are you going to realize that I don't love you...why can't we go back, to the way we used to be?'

She brushed the tear away.

'I'll make you realize today...how much I hate you.'

"Do you, Tenten, love Gaara? Do you pledge yourself to him for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health? Do you put your trust in him now and for ever?"

Tenten searched among the audience, out of the corner of her eye, for one man and one man only.

She saw him sitting at the back, watching with sad eyes.

'Make sure you watch me, Neji. I want you to see...I want you to see me throw you away, without the slightest hesitance.'

"I do."

One year later...

"He's beautiful, Gaara." Tenten gushed, cradling the baby in her arms.

"Yes, he is, isn't he?" Gaara looked down lovingly at his son.

"He's got your hair." She giggled.

"That's a good thing, of course." He said, daring her to say anything to contradict that.

"Well, it's okay, because he's got my eyes." She said, kissing her husband.

"What are we going to name him?"

"Neji..." Tenten whispered softly, not thinking.

"What did you say, darling?"

"Nothing." Tenten said quickly. "Um...how about...Seiichi?"

"Seiichi," Gaara echoed. "Sounds nice. Sure."

"Our little Seiichi..."

Sorry, I just took that name from one of my favourite characters in Prince of Tennis.

Okay, for you people who are worried about Gaara...what can I say...

These are the pairings I like, in order:

1.) NejiHina

2.) NejiHanabi

3.) ItaSasu

4.) NejiGaara

5.) Nejiten

6.) SasuHina

7.) GaaHina

Haha I copied that from my profile for you, aren't I considerate?

Yeah, I like incest but that is completely irrelevant...anyway, I do not like GaaraTen. Gaara should be gay and be with Neji. But as this story is a NejiTen I can't really do that. So why don't I pair him up with Hinata? She's with Sasuke...so, Gaara is gonna end up...

1.) Alone

2.) Dead

Okay, have a nice time guessing. If you're wondering why I write NejiTen instead of my favourite pairings...I think it's in my profile

Time skips:

There are going to be more.